Cotton picker and similar machine



Feb. 10, 1948. R. s. CURLEY vCOTTON PICKER AND SIMILAR MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 26, 1945 Feb. 10, 1948.

R. S. CURLEY COTTON PICKER AND SIMILAR MACHINE Filed June 26, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 10, 1948 Roberts; Curley, Biddeford, Maine; assignor to Saco-Lowell Shops, Boston, Mass., 21; corporation. of Maine Application June 26, 1945,. Serial No. 601,632

This invention relates 'topickers andto other machines usedin the preparation' of textile fibers forspinning and inwhich a beating mechanism is employed similar to that usedin a picker;

In most types of pickers it has been customary to" feed the fiber between two fiuted' feed rolls, or else between afeedroll and a, cooperating plate; while the cotton is held under compression; and tobeat it ofi with a rotary beater set close to the feed rolls' or to-the roll and the feedplate; as'the case-maybe.

In allof these mechanisms the beater" does not draw the-fiber awaycleanly, but leaves a fringe of fiber varying in length and hanging down from thebite of the feed rolls. The length of this fringe varies withthe type of fiber; with t'he'length of staple; and with' the spacing or setting of the beater with reference tothe feed rolls.

Irr a'ma'chi'ne" picking from evener' pedals, it is necessary to set, the beater" comparatively wide, or spaced" further from the feed" rolls than when beating from feed'rolls' alone; in order to= avoid pulling bunches of fiberthrough between the pedals and the" roll. whether the beatenisrun upstroke; as in the case of the shoddy'picker; the rayon picker; and the" upstrokeiB'uckley beater; or whether it runs downstroke; as in thewaste machines, openers and lappers; Because oi'the' presence of this uneven fringe, a thorough sub-division or uniform picking of the'fibers is rarely produced, and this difiiculty increases-with an increase in the length of fiber. The bunches pulled from the fringehamper the=cleanin oi'the fiber in downstroke machines and tend to produce a lumpy uneven sheet on thescreens of the-picker. Moreover, there is a tendency for the lap to split where these bunches are distributed throughout thesheet In anupstroke beater there isalso a tendency for the fringe tofall back over the feed roll and towind up or lap the roll. This phenomenon has-provedparticularly objectionable in upstroke pickers working onrayon fiber; or mixtures of rayon and cotton.-

The present invention is especially concerned. with the foregoing considerations, andv it aims to devise ath'oroughiy practicalsolution. for the prol'niem'presented'b3 them.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

And" this is true In the drawings;

Fig. I is a vertical, sectional view through" a portion of an upstroke pickerre-designed to em.- bodythe present invention; and

Fig. 2115 a similar view showing the invention embodied'in a downstroke picker.

Referring first to Fig; 11 the construction thereshown. comprises: a. common form of carding beater 2;. revolving in a' casing. 3 and associated in the usual mannerwith other picker'elements' including a. pair ofv condenser cylinders,- one of which is indicated at l'. It also includes a feeding' mechanism. of a common typecomprising. a' feed roll' 5* cooperating with evenerpedals' 6 acrosswhich the cotton is fed by the roll into' the path ofthe beater teeth;

The parts above described are'all constructed; arranged'and. operated in a manner long used in the textile industry.

According to the present invention .a supple"- mental roll I is positioned closely adjacent. to

-the feed roll. 5 closer to the beater whereitwill' exert a control over-the movement of. the fiber away from the. beatingp'oint. Preferably this roll is set as close as, possible to the path of the beater, closer than is the roll 5;- and' it should" be driven at a speed comparable to that of the latter roll. Usually. the best results are obtained" by driving it at. a slightly higher speed" than. the feed roll; In operation, it serves tosupport termediate gear, between the. evener roll andthe'c apron gear. As'shown, the'roll shaft is connected. through gears 9, "land" H to a shaft f2? carrying;

a sprocket wheel l3, and a chain. driven by this wheel drives another sprocket Wheel" I'd" fast on the shaft IE to which the supplemental r0111 T is secured.

This supplemental roll maybe either a plain roll, orit may be fluted, sand-blasted, or-wire wound, as in thecase ofan Ashwo'rth roll, lasttmentionedi type of roll is. shown in Figi 1.

In general", the plain roll seems to work better than a fluted roll, apparently because of a better control of air currents. In most cases, however, the Ashworth roll is more effective in controlling the fringe so as to obtain a maximum amount of picking by the beater While the fiber The is held in the control of this supplemental roll. For this purpose the teeth of the Ashworth type roll exert a very beneficial restraint on the fiber. They prevent it from being kicked off in bunches by the beater and retard its movement under the action of the latter sufiiciently to secure the more advantageous result above described. This control is also aided by setting the supplemental roll as close as possible to the pathof revolution of the beater. A further advantage of the supplemental roll at this point is that its direction of rotation is such as to reduce the possibility of either roll lapping up.

Fig. 2 shows the invention applied to a well-known commercial form of cotton picker equipped with an evener and with a downstroke beater. In this construction the cotton is fed to the beater by a feed roll l0, cooperating with the pedals I! of an evener mechanism, which also is of a well-known type. The drive for the feed roll I 6 comes through gears l8, I9, 20 and 2|, and the latter gear, which is secured to the feed roll, meshes directly with a gear 22 on the shaft of the supplemental roll 23. Here again, the latter roll is set as closely as possible to the path of the beater. However, the addition of this roll permits a wider setting between the beater and the orthodox feeding mechanism. Its function is the same as that above described in connection with the upstroke beater. In Fig. 2 this supplemental roll is wound with Ashworth type wire, and the teeth are directed backwardly or opposite to the direction of rotation of the roll, as is also true in Fig. 1. This arrangement gives the roll an added hold on the stock and thus retains it more firmly while the fiber is beaten out. In most cases the best results are obtained, particularly with longer staples, in running this roll about 10% faster than the surface speed of the feed roll [6. This results in a draft of around 10% or 12% between the evener roll and the carding roll 23.

It has been found in the practical use of this invention in textile mills that" it produces a far better lap than do the prior art feeding mechanisms. This is particularly true in operating on long fiber, such as rayon, or mixtures of cotton and rayon. A single beater machine equipped with this invention has been found to produce a better lap than that obtained by using two or three beaters with the old feed mechanisms.

As above indicated, this invention is useful not only in pickers, but also in other textile machines, such as those previously mentioned in which a beating operation is performed and where uniformity in the resulting lap is an important factor.

While I have herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is contemplated that the invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit or scope thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I de-' sire to claim as new is: l

1. In a cotton picking machine, the combination with a rotary beater and mechanism for feeding, fibrous material to said beater and presenting it thereto for the beating operation, of a supplemental roll positioned closer to the path of revolution of said beater than is said feeding mechanism, means supporting said roll where it will engage the fringe of cotton extendin from the nip of said feeding mechanism and will support it in position for the beater elements to act on its after they pass the beating point, and means for driving said roll with its surface nearest the beater running in the same direction as the adjacent surface of said beater and at a peripheral speed much slower than the peripheral speed of the beater whereby the fringe is beaten by the beater as it extends from the nip of said feeding mechanism, is fed in a partial circle by said beater and is additionally beaten by said beater as said fringe engages said roll, the surface of said supplemental roll being roughened sufficiently torestrain the movement of said fringe while the beater beats it out, whereby a more thorough sub-division of the fibrous mass and a more" uniform picking operation are achieved and a smoother and more even sheet is produced.

. 2. In a machine according to preceding claim 1,

a construction in which said supplemental roll isrevolved at a slightly higher speed than said feeding mechanism operates and thereby serves to draft the fringe.

3. In a cotton picking machine, the combination with a rotary beater and mechanism for feeding fibrous material to said beater including a feed roll and an evener mechanism cooperating with it, of a supplemental roll positioned closer to the path of revolution of said beater than is said feeding mechanism where it engages and supports th fringe of fiber extending forwardly from said feed roll in the direction of movement of the adjacent surface of the beater, and mechanism for driving said supplemental roll at a peripheral speed at least as great as that of said feed roll but much slower than that of the beater, whereby said supplemental roll exerts a restraining action on said fringe, retarding its movement under the action of the beater;

and enabling the latter to beat out the fibrous bunches in the fringe, said supplemental roll having teeth restraining the movement of said fringe under the action of said beater.

4. In a cotton picking mechanism according to preceding claim 3, a construction in which the machine is of the downstroke type and said feed roll is positioned above the pedals of said evener and said supplemental roll is positioned imme'- diately below said pedals.

ROBERT S. CURLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Dec. 29, 1932 

